Ukrainian book influencers of thematic telegram channels from the perspective of influencer marketing

Abstract

The article examines the peculiarities of the functioning of author's book blogs in the Ukrainian segment of Telegram. The author argues that writing reviews by readers on a social network has long been a much larger phenomenon than reader promotion of books, but is an expression of the global phenomenon of online influencer marketing. It is proposed to adopt the term "book influencer" as a generally accepted international term for book influencers. The study analyses Ukrainian author's book blogs on Telegram and identifies 17 most popular ones by the number of subscribers. The article focuses on the peculiarities of bloggers' public identity, in particular, in the selection of content and the use of labelling for posts. It is proved that the main characteristic of the public identity of book influencers is reading as a lifestyle. Some of the latest strategies for engaging the audience are described, in particular, the activation of subscribers using the military-patriotic theme. It is found that book bloggers do not act on the basis of anonymity, but are interested in developing their own brand and creating social capital. posting posts on a commercial basis, and cooperation with publishers is not always on a barter basis. It has been found that most of the blogs we analysed have labelled advertising (11 out of 17), however, only a few bloggers openly state the terms of advertising. It is noted that in addition to the marketing function, book telegram channels have a value-oriented function for their audience. It is determined that book influencers are now defending the Ukrainian book and Ukrainian book publishing, and condemning Russian literature as part of the identity of the aggressor country in the Russian-Ukrainian war.